No, but my glasses flew off.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Mr. Rilch and I went back east for Christmas and New Years’. One of the things we’d planned to do while there was go ice skating. Except for one session at the rink that used to be at Universal CitiWalk in the winter, I haven’t skated since I was a teenager. (I’m 32.) Well, with one thing and another, we didn’t get to a rink. So when we came home, I found the address of a local rink, and today, we went there: me to skate and him to sit on the sidelines.

I wasn’t sure what my size was. I got size 8, stepped out on the ice, determined that they were too large (the boots came up too high on my legs and impeded movement), went back and got 7 1/2.

Stepped out on the ice again. Whoo! This is the stuff! Ah…damn toe pick…ah…ah…ahhh…BACKWARDS! OMIGOD!

Whatever I’d learned in high school about taking a fall, I’d forgotten it. My butt barely grazed the ice before my upper body came crashing down.

SMACK!! My glasses flew off and I screamed. Turned over on all fours. “I hit my head! Oh my god, I really hit my head!” I kept repeating this (I think I may have used the f-word) without trying to get up, because I wasn’t sure of my ability to do so.

Someone’s mom backtracked and helped me up, then escorted me to where Mr. Rilch was sitting. He says she looked “ashen”. “There’s a knot on the back of my head,” I reported. “A KNOT.”

Long story short, the ER staff says I’m okay, but to stay in a prone position with my head and shoulders at a 45-degree angle tonight and tomorrow.

—This is why you shouldn’t try new things after 30.
—I was embarrassed (I can skate, dammit! Or I used to be able to!), terrified (I hope this doesn’t trigger a seizure) and disappointed (It would have been so fun. I could feel it!).
—Mr. Rilch says I should have another go, but with a helmet. At first I balked at this, thinking that if I had to take such precautions, the risk was too great. But now I think I’ll do that. It’s just too fun to shy away from. And I’ve always been impatient with people who say, “I tried it once and fell on my butt and never tried it again.”
—I get to be a diva! Lie around watching TV and having Mr. Rilch bring me ice cream. Woohoo!
—The swelling is going down. They gave me a horse-choker of ibuprofen.
—Oh, and the hospital had my records, because that’s where I got my MRI. Computerized bureaucracy is great.
—God damned toe picks.

See y’all whenever!

2

Oh, forgot to mention, the thread title is due to the fact that I had the same exchange with the rink staff, three ER nurses, the ER admissions and the doctor:

“Did you lose consciousness?”

“No, but my glasses flew off.”

3

Prone = lying on your front
Supine = lying on your back

Which one did you really mean?

Oh, and you might enjoy the movie The Cutting Edge while you recuperate – there’s a great “toe pick” joke in there. (Really!)

4

Supine means the soup stays in your belly button.
Hope you heal fast.

5

Supine is what I meant.

I’ve seen The Cutting Edge. It is supremely ironic that, the entire time I was lacing up my skates, I was thinking, “Toe pick…toe pick…TOE PICK!” (Maybe I psyched myself out?)

The lump has gone down somewhat. It used to be a tennis ball; now it’s a golf ball.

6

So does this mean you will or will not be watching nationals (figure-skating, for all you non-fans) this afternoon and evening?

7

I might, at that! I’ll watch carefully as they take the ice, before they start their routines, in the hopes of learning something about balance and form. I’m not being sarcastic.

From the OP: ‘I’ve always been impatient with people who say, "I tried it once and fell on my butt and never tried it again.’" I’m rethinking that position just slightly. I should take into account the fact that for me, I put on my first skates when I was six, stepped onto the ice, and glided away as if I’d been born wearing them. Didn’t fall once all afternoon. So I was a natural*. But apparently, that skill becomes dormant after too long, and if you don’t do anything else athletic, like I don’t, eventually you’re starting from scratch. So now I understand how traumatic it was for these people, as teens or adults, to fall on their first attempt.

However, that’s not an excuse! The same people who were traumatized by “falling on their butt”, probably sustained other injuries in other activities, and didn’t let that stop them. Some people just have too much pride for their own good, I guess.

*My mom refused to let me get figure skating lessons, or even lessons in regular skating to improve my form. There’s a Pit thread in that, but I don’t feel like starting it right now.

8

Also: I don’t like sleeping on my back. It gives me unpleasant dreams.

9

Skating skill never became dormant for me…I can still do it pretty good as I found out after going skating after a break of about 15 years or so. Now, trying to skate with a different blade than you’re used to could make a difference…longer blades are a bit easier to keep yourself balanced on I think. Falling as a grown-up is not funny, and it gets progressively less funny as you age, IMO.

Sleeping on my back gives me unpleasant dreams also…interesting.